Your plans of sipping beers lakeside in Leipzig or seeing the sun rise at the Stone Circle might be dashed, but don't set fire to your bucket hat just yet. There's still plenty of fun to be had this summer.
Up to six people are now allowed inside private homes in the UK, which makes this the perfect opportunity to hone your entertaining skills. For our new series, we've spoken to experts in food, wine, music and immersive events for their advice on transforming your kitchen, living room or broom cupboard into the hottest spot in town.
Perhaps the suggestion of another pizza at home doesn't exactly sound like a thrilling addition to your lockdown summer, but as with so many of life's simple pleasures that might be because you're not doing it right.
Passo, the East London restaurant serving excellent Italian fare from fresh pasta to gooey and chewy pizzas want to save your DIY pizza experience, showing that you don't always have to resort to a takeaway to host a pizza night.
The restaurant have been delivering DIY kits nationwide during lockdown which include pre-made dough, sauces and toppings if you want to make life easier for yourself, but there's something satisfying about starting from scratch on a recipe where we so often outsource the work to others.
"Pizza is a crowd pleaser but the key is to keep it simple if feeding the masses," says Passo founder Jonny Boud. "Prepare the bases in advance and ask people to choose their toppings – I love mixing random cheeses – when they arrive then throw two or three in the oven at once. Roughly chop large slices on up a large wooden block and drizzle on olive oil when you are ready to eat."
Be patient as the key here is improvement through repetition, says Boud. "I have now done it with my family countless times and we all love it. Every time you get slightly better, it’s addictive."
One element of making pizza at home that often puts people off is not having a wood-fired oven to help with getting that crispiness, with an oven leaving you with a soggy or burnt base. Fortunately you don't need to rush out and buy new equipment in order to achieve that coveted crust. Instead, Passo recommend using a frying pan in order to apply direct heat to the underside of the dough.
"The frying pan method is all about nailing a nice crispy golden base. Keep checking on it and only move to the grill when you are content with the base," Boud says. "The dough rises much higher in a pan protecting that gooey cheese from crisping up too much."
Bring pizza night home with the below recipe and pair the meal with a fruity Italian red wine poured into jugs for the laidback vibe of a Tuscan pizzeria this summer.
Smoked speck pizza (dough serves 4)
Ingredients:
Dough:
- 750g Caputo flour
- 400g water
- 7g fresh yeast or one sachet of dry yeast
- 20g salt
- 25g olive oil
Tomato Sauce:
- Two 400ml tins of good quality tomatoes
- 25g salt
- 30g white sugar
- 66g garlic oil (blitz 50g of garlic and fry off in 100g of olive oil then separate 66g of oil)
Toppings:
- 65g mozzarella
- 20g sliced speck
- 70g portobello mushrooms
- 10ml garlic oil
Ingredients:
- Place your flour in a standing mixer with a dough hook and add 350g of water. Then on the slowest setting start to mix and slowly start to turn up the settings so the flour doesn’t go everywhere.
- Mix in the remaining water with your yeast and salt then add into the water and flour mixture.
- Once the flour water and yeast mixture has been mixing for around 10 minutes and has combined, add olive oil slowly on the lowest setting then mix until the whole mixture is combined.
- Rest for ten minutes in a bowl with a bit of oil on top of the dough so that it doesn’t dry out.
- Weigh the whole dough and divide it into four pieces. Then roll it into balls and rest for 30 minutes covered.
- Preheat your frying pan on the highest setting of your grill.
- Turn your dough out onto your flour, using your fingertips, press the dough down, flattening it as you go and rotating it to form a circle. Keep the crust at about three quarters of an inch thick. Stretch the dough as thin as possible. If you make a hole, fold over the dough and push it down to seal the hole.
- Transfer your dough into the frying pan, and build your pizza. Add the sauce and spread it. Then add your toppings and cheese. Keep on the high heat for 3-4mins or until the base is a deep golden brown colour.
- Once the dough has crisped on the bottom, turn the heat down and cook for a further couple of minutes. Then take the frying pan and place under the hot grill. Leave it there until the cheese and crust have browned and caramelised.
- Remove from the pan, brush the crusts with oil or melted butter and cut the slices to your desired size.
Like this article? Sign up to our newsletter to get more articles like this delivered straight to your inbox
Need some positivity right now? Subscribe to Esquire now for a hit of style, fitness, culture and advice from the experts
